Luggage-carrier



G. A. ROTH.

LUGGAGE CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 25, I919.

1 ,399,154, Patented Dec. 6, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1- G. A. ROTH.

'LUGGAGE CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.25, 1919.

1,399, 1 54 I Patented Dec. 6, 1921.

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G. A. ROTH.

LUGGAGE CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.25, 1919.

1,399,154. Patented Dec. 6,1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- l ,5'. 10

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES GILBERT A. ROTH, OF HASTINGS, NEBRASKA.

LUGGAGE-CARRIER.

Specification of Letters'latent.

Patented Dec. 6, 1921.

Application filed August 25, 1919. Serial No. 319,526.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GILBERT A. ROTH, a citizen of the United States, residin at Hastings, in the county of Adams and tate of Nebraska, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Luggage-Carriers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in luggage carriers, having as its objective the provision of a simple and efiicient attach ment which will serve to retain articles both large and small upon the running board of a motor Vehicle without injury to the body of the vehicle or likelihood of accidental displacement.

The invention comprehends the provision of an arrangement of parts to permit of the carrying of containers of different types, certain of these parts being subject to interlocking connection or attachment one upon another depending upon the necessities arising from the character of the articles to be carried.

It is further a primary object to provide a carrier of foldable construction such that it may be employed when extended to hold large objects, as for exam le, crates, boxes, trunks, or the like, but wit smaller articles to be folded into more compact form and in which form the parts assume a relation to each other inclosing the objects or parcels.

These and such other objects as may here-' inafter appear are attained by the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically described and claimed. Reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of'a motor vehicle having my carrier device applied thereto.

F igs. 2, 3 and i are side, end, and plan views of certain of the standards used.

Fig. 5 isan end view of the foldable portion or unit of the carrier, showing in full lines its extended position and in dotted lines its folded position.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the unit as shown in Flg. 5.

Figs. 7 and 8 are detailed views showing the method of interlocking the units together.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view of the foldable carrier with the outer side section lowered and a standard 1 arranged inninterlp king relfl ieil F ig. 10 is a section view on the line lO-lO of 9.

Figs. 11 and 12 are enlarged side and plan views, respectively, showing the construction of the longitudinal bars of the foldable carrier, and i Fig. 13 is a section view on the line 13-13 of Fig. 12. I

Throughout the following detail descrip tion and on the several figures of the drawin s, similar parts are referred to by like reference characters,

Referring to the drawings, and specifically describlng the invention, A i Fig. 1 coinprlses an arrangement of standards, more clearly shown in Figs. 2 to 4, particularly designed to hold such articles as milk containers, but of course, I do not wish to indicate by this that said arrangement may not be used for other articles, as will be found true in the further explanation of my idea. As regards this feature or unit, however, I mp y 6 mor an ar 1 each o which is provided at its lower edge with spaced horizontal arms 2 between which the running board of the vehicle isreceived in attaching, and with a swivel locking or clamping screw 3 to prevent accidental displacement of the standard. Any suitable number of standards are used in spaced re lation, as shown in Fig. l, and by passing straps 4 around the articles resting upon the running board and through openings 5, a series of which at different heightsare formed in the standards, said articles are held fast againstdisplacement.

assing now to the more important feature of my attachment, B in Fig. 1, refers to a carrier unitwhich is devised particularly to carry such parcels as egg crates, trunks, or even lumber, and the like, and with which the standards of the unit A are dap d o ce pe a efo ce n. P rp The unit B consists of a pair of spaced bottom members 6 formedwith thefclan ping arms 7 and clamping s crews 8 to secure the device to the running board. Connecting bars 9 complete the bottom section. To the inner ends of the members 6 is hingedly connected the inner side section formed of the cross pieces 10 and lon 'tudinal barsll similar to the bars 9. his section folds from a vertical position downward upon the bottom section when not in use, and is design d te pre ze th eentainers t on ja are est at the were thereby marring its finish. The folding of this section also permits the door of the vehicle to be opened without interference when the carrier is not in use.

The outer side section is hinged to the bottom section and consists also of the cross pieces 12 and the longitudinal bars 13,.each of these bars having connected at its ends a right-angle shaped arm 14:, the object of which is to provide end members for the carrier whether this outer section is in folded or unfolded position, as is shown most clearly inFig. 5, It will be observed, furthermore, that the extremities of the pieces 10 and 12 are pointed and apertured so that when the outer side section is in vertical position, removable cross pieces ].5 each having apertures at its ends, may be inserted upon said members 10 and 12, thus holding the inner and outer side sections in vertical position and confining the contents of the carrier by complete iuelosure. Cotter pins 16 prevent thedisplacement of the bars 15. It should be noted that the bottom bars 6 from a me dian point incline upwardly from the horizontal and that the outer side section when extended, as shown in Fig. 5, alines with the incline, the object of this being to cause a tendency of the articles disposed upon the carrier to work inwardly rather than out-- wardly of the carrier, eliminating the necessity of strapping the objects to the carrier. It will be apparent that the construction of carrier above described greatly enlarges its 1 capacity for holding articles, and extends its usefulness in holding articles which ordinarily are diflicult to support by reasonof their length or bulk, such as lumber or trunks.

The carrier unit B is capable of use alone, as is true also of the unit arrangement A,

but both may be applied together to the running board as shown in ig. 1. Furthermore, one of these may cooperate with the other by interlocking connection so as to assist in one way or another. in carrying out the functions of carriage. For example,

as shown in Fig. 7, the arm 7 of a bottom .member 6 is provided with a link 17 pivotally connected at 18 and notched at 19 near its outer end. WVhen a standard is juxtaposed with reference to this bottom member, the link is hooked to the clamping screw 3 so that this standard'will assist in givino' greater security to the carrier B by its ad itional gripping action and, of course, when so connected the carrier A. will alsoreceive support against accidental displacement due to vibrations of articles held thereby. When carrying lumber of any length the outer si de section of carrier unit B is l wered to what I call extended po i and the lumber placed thereupon, the standards1 being attached to the running board also, after the manner shown in Fig. --1,fso

above and 10.

of the keeper 0.

. extended or folded position.

as to prevent the ends from flapping against thesideof the vehicle, or providing means to which the ends of the lumber may be tied for end support. The interlocking arrangement with the outer carrier section in its lowered or extended position for the purpose is shown best in Figs. 9

tudinal bars' oi the carrier unit 3 instead.

01 upon the running board. This will be desirable where the outer side section'- of the foldable carrieris in extended position and it is desired toprevent articles held thereon from moving outwardly or being jarred off of the carrier, the same being accomplished by attaching one or more of the standards 1 to the outer bar of the outer foldable section.

Not only is the carrier unit B extendable as above described, but it is also capable of being enlarged with respect'to itslength.

Each of the longitudinalbars of the sections is really composed of adjustable members, as will be apparent from Figs. 11 to .13. The. section a oi the bar cooperates with the section Z), being held in place by means The cross pieces of the various sections may thus be separated to increase vthe length of the foldable" carrier as may be required by the size of the articles which it is desired to carry;

- Havin thus described what I c. aim as new is:

. 1. A luggage carrier of the class described comprising a bottom section having means for attachment to the running board of a vehicle, a foldable section hingedly connected thereto and adapted to project in n my lnvention,

, alinement with the bottom section when unfrom the foldable section and arranged to prevent displacement of articles in a direction endwiseof the carrier when in either 2. A luggage carrier of the class described comprising a bottom section having clamping means for securing it in position upon the runningboard of a vehicle, the bottom section being 'formed on an incline from substantially the median line upwardly from the plane of the support whereby an article disposed thereon willtend to moye inwardly rather than outwardly, means connected to the inner edge of the bottom section to limit the movement in that direction of the article, and a side section 'hingedlyconnected to the outer edge of the bottom section and adapted either tobe swung into an upright-position ortilted outwardly into an inclined position substantially inalinement with the in 'clined portion of the bottom section.

3. A luggage carrier of the class described comprising a bottom section having clamping means for securing the carrier to the running board of a vehicle or the like, a foldable side section hingedly connected to the edge of the bottom section, both the bottom section and the side section being formed of slidable adjustable bar members whereby the carrier may be adjusted as regards its length, and end members projecting laterally from the foldable side section for engagement with a load to prevent endwise displacement thereof upon the carrier..

4. A luggage carrier of the class described comprising a bottom section having clamping means for securing it in position on the running board of a vehicle, an inner foldable side section adapted to fold down upon the bottom section, an outer foldable side section hingedly connected to the opposite edge of the bottom section and adapted to be folded outwardly into extended position in alinement with the bottom section, said outer side section being arranged when in extended position so as to incline upwardly from the horizontal plane of the bottom section, end members connected to the ends of the outer side section and movable therewith, and means for connecting the inner and outer side sections so as to hold them in upstanding position at right angles to the bottom section.

5. A luggage carrier of the class described comprising a bottom section having clamping means for securing the carrier to the running board of a vehicle or the like, and foldable side sections hingedly connected to the opposite edges of the bottom section, each section aforesaid being composed of slidable adjustable bar members whereby the carrier may be adjusted as regards its length, and one of the sections being provided with lateral end members to prevent displacement of a load endwise of the carrier.

6. A luggage carrier of the class described comprising a bottom section adapted to fit upon the running board of a vehicle and provided with clamping means for engaging the said running board, inner and outer opposed side sections hingedly connected to opposite edges of the bottom section, lateral arms projecting from the ends of one of the side sections and arranged to overhang the running board when the side section is swung upwardly and to project upwardly when the side section is swung outwardly, said side section being adapted to support a load when swung outwardly and the lateral arms holding the load against longitudinal movement in either position, and means for holding the two side sections in an upright position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

GILBERT A. ROTH. 

